Fossils of the Largest Known Vampire Bat Have Been Discovered

Researchers have just uncovered the fossils of the largest known Vampire Bat to have ever existed. Discovered in South America, here's what we know about the latest finding and why it's left the scientific world amazed...

Nestled within a cave near Buenos Aires, Argentina, a new fossil of the extinct Desmodus draculae (commonly known as Vampire Bats) has been uncovered. The 100,000-year-old remains are currently the largest of their kind, as Dr. Daniel Tassara, a researcher at the Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Pachamama, revealed.

During their time on Earth, Desmodus draculae were "larger than that of a computer keyboard and significantly larger than that of its living relatives," Dr. Santiago Brizuela, a paleontologist at the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata and CONICET, explained.

The latest discovery - which has been detailed in the journal Ameghiniana - is captivating, considering fossil bat remains are a rare finding in Argentina. But the finding can also offer great insight as to how the extinct species once lived. "One, that it lived there and also preyed on the inhabitants; the other possibility is that [the bat] was owl prey and was regurgitated in the cave," Santiago Brizuela, a paleontologist at the National University of Mar del Plata, explained.